The Game Baby Steps Features Among the Most Meaningful Choices I Have Ever Faced in a Game

I've dealt with some challenging decisions in video games. Some of my decisions in Life is Strange series continue to trouble me. Ghost of Tsushima's ending section led me to put my controller down for around ten minutes while I considered my options. I am the cause of so many Krogan demises in the Mass Effect series that I wish I could undo. None of those moments compare to what possibly is the hardest choice I’ve had to make in interactive media — and it involves a giant staircase.

The Game Baby Steps, the newest release from the developers of Ape Out game, is not really a selection-based adventure. At least not in the conventional way. You only need to navigate a vast game world as Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can barely stand on his unsteady feet. It looks like an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps game’s appeal is in its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will sneak up on you when it's most unexpected. There’s not a single instance that exemplifies that strength like a key selection that I keep reflecting on.

Alert: Spoilers

Some scene setting is necessary here. Baby Steps game starts when Nate is magically whisked away from his family's basement and into a magical realm. He quickly discovers that walking through it is a struggle, as a lifetime spent as a couch potato have weakened his muscles. The humorous physicality of it all arises from players controlling Nate step by step, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

Nate needs help, but he has trouble voicing that to anyone. As he progresses, he comes in contact with a cast of eccentric characters in the world who each propose to help him out. A composed outdoorsman tries to give Nate a navigation aid, but he uncomfortably rejects in the game’s most hilarious scene. When he plunges into an inescapable pit and is given a way out, he strives to appear nonchalant like he doesn’t need the help and truly prefers to be stuck in the hole. During the narrative, you encounter plenty of annoying scenarios where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s too self-conscious to accept any assistance.

The Defining Decision

Everything builds up in Baby Steps game’s one true moment of choice. As Nate gets close to finishing his journey, he realizes that he must reach the summit of a frosty elevation. The unofficial caretaker of the world (who Nate has consistently evaded up to this point) comes to tell him that there are two paths upward. If he’s up for a challenge, he can choose a very lengthy and risky path dubbed The Challenge. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps game provides; taking it seems inadvisable to anyone.

But there’s a alternative choice: He can merely climb a enormous coiled steps in its place and reach the summit in a short time. The only caveat? He’ll have to refer to the caretaker “Lord” from now on if he takes the easy route.

An Agonizing Decision

I am absolutely sincere when I say that this is an difficult selection in context. It’s all of Nate’s insecurities about himself reaching a climax in a particularly bizarre situation. An element of Nate's story is centered around the fact that he’s insecure of his body and his masculinity. Every time he sees that handsome trekker, it’s a difficult memory of what he fails to be. Undertaking The Challenge could be a time where he can show that he’s as able as his one-sided rival, but that route is sure to be paved with more embarrassing pratfalls. Is it justified struggling just to make a statement?

The steps, on the other hand, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to choose whether to take assistance or not. The player has no choice in whether or not they reject navigation help, but they can choose to allow Nate some relief and take the stairs. It might seem like an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps game is remarkably shrewd about making you feel paranoid each time you see a simple solution. The game world contains intentional pitfalls that transform an easy path into a setback suddenly. Could the steps an additional deception? Could Nate reach to the very summit just to be fooled by an ending prank? And more concerning, is he prepared to be humiliated yet again by being forced to call an odd character as Lord?

No Correct Answer

The excellence of that situation is that there’s no correct or incorrect choice. Either one leads to a authentic instance of personal growth and catharsis for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Obstacle, it’s an existential win. Nate finally gets a moment to show that he’s as competent as everyone else, consciously choosing a difficult route rather than suffering through one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s difficult, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the dose of confidence that he requires.

But there’s no embarrassment in the stairs either. To select that route is to finally allow Nate to accept help. And when he accomplishes that, he finds that there’s no secret drawback in store for him. The steps are not a joke. They go on for a long time, but they’re simple to climb and he won't slip completely down if he falls. It’s a simple climb after extended challenges. Midway through, he even has a discussion with the hiker who has, of course, opted for The Manbreaker. He tries to play it cool, but you can tell that he’s exhausted, silently lamenting the unnecessary challenge. By the time Nate gets to the top and has to pay his debt, hailing his new Lord, the agreement barely appears so nasty. Who has energy for shame by this strange individual?

My Experience

During my game, I chose the staircase. Some part of my reasoning just {wanted to call